Seattle Seahawks draft the NFL’s first one handed player

For any young athlete, the dream is to make it big one day, whether it’s the Olympics, the World Cup, or the Superbowl. However, very few individuals are ever given the opportunity to live out this fantasy. For Shaquem Griffin, his chances looked even slimmer for an unique reason.

Griffin was born with Amniotic Band Syndrome, a rare condition that resulted in the amputation of his left hand at the age of four.  However, Shaquem didn’t let this stop him from becoming a fully fledged athlete, competing in track, baseball, and football growing up, along with his twin brother Shaquill. Ultimately, Shaquill and Shaquem were both offered football scholarships from the University of Central Florida. Shaquill gave up an offer from the University of Miami, his dream school, in order to play with his brother.

Griffin’s time as UCF was successful to say the least, winning multiple Defensive MVP accolades. In his senior season, UCF went undefeated and won their first national championship. However, his final season of college was without his brother Shaquill, as he had already been drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the 2017 draft. Shaquem, who redshirted his freshman year, meaning played his first season of football in his sophomore year, remained at UCF for another year.

As the time came for Griffin to enter the draft, many were skeptical of his potential in the professional league. During an interview at the NFL scouting combine, Griffin addressed these doubts by saying,

“That started when I first started playing football. I was able to learn from there, and as I got older, I got better at handling different situations and things being said about me. The only thing I’ve done since then is prove them wrong, and that’s not gonna stop.”

Grifiin certainly proved all of his skeptics wrong, running the fastest 40-yard dash by a linebacker since 2003 and even bench pressing 225 pounds twenty times, using a prosthetic hand.

Finally, on April 28th, 2018, the news was announced: Shaquem Griffin was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the fifth round with the 141st pick overall. Seemingly miraculously, Shaquem and his twin brother Shaquill would be reunited on the same team once again.

“I couldn’t breathe, I didn’t know what to say. I was trying to get the words out, but I couldn’t talk,” Griffin told ESPN.

Griffin will now compete with the other new rookies and current Seahawk players in order to make the 53-man roster for the upcoming 2018-2019 season. However, Griffin’s success has already occurred in a different aspect- inspiring others. Griffin serves as a role model to all, football enthusiasts or not, and is a living reminder that anything is possible if one puts in the work to accomplish it.

“The thing is, and the reason why I’m so excited to be able to prove so many people wrong is because  a lot of people see somebody with one hand instead of two and they think it’s different. […] At the end of the day, you got to show me what you can do, but I’m never going to set limitations on what you can do, whether you have two hands or thirty.”

Griffin’s experiences growing up have influenced his judgement of others, and his optimism and determination for his future successes. Griffin acknowledges the importance of not allowing limitations to dictate one’s potential.

“That’s how I live, day by day. When i  wake up and in the mirror, seeing myself- i know its up to me, and only me, to accomplish everything i want out of life.”